HAPPY BIRTHDAY | BROKEN LULLABY
In honor of Tony's birthday, here's a one-shot!
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TONY HAD A TENDENCY TO FORGET HIS BIRTHDAYS. Of course, when he was younger and more impulsive, to make up for all the times that people had forgotten, he would throw himself birthday parties, large galas or more off the rails shindigs that would always wind up on the news in some way, shape, or form, and him waking up with some woman or three in bed with him while he looked around to find Rhodey who would no doubt be in a similar state, despite his usually uptight personality.
But now that he had mellowed out somewhat, not by much, but a substantial amount, it had been a while since he had thrown himself a birthday party, as he tended to work so much he didn't even realize it, or even work through the whole day unless someone came looking for him, though he was still always on the news, but that was something he could admit to be happy to live without.
Especially considering that, more often than not, paparazzi were found outside of Remy's school.
Regardless of his qualms and his constant fear of the Walsh's becoming fed up with the press and leaving him, he still woke up on his birthday in a bed that wasn't his, but felt more right than the bed in the facility could ever be.
Feather light kisses were being pressed along his face and jaw, and he woke with a slight start, more of a slow rise, then a slight shock when he realized that something was happening, then back to an easy rise when it all clicked.
"Good morning," he mumbled, opening his eyes ever so slightly to look at his not-wife, a small smile forming on impulse. His not-wife, because while he had proposed and she had, to an extent, agreed, they still had yet to actually accept that they were engaged, but that wasn't point.
"Happy birthday," Birdie sang softly, tucking her head underneath his chin, curling up closer to him, and he just groaned softly, pulling her even closer than he already was, wanting nothing more than to just stay there forever.
"Is that today?" he mumbled against her hair, and she nodded patiently.
Lifting her head up to look at him, she asked, "What do you want to do today? Any plans?"
He tilted his head back, thinking. "I don't think I have any plans, though, since it's my birthday, I'm honor bound to bother Rhodey, but other than that, I just want to stay here and do nothing. Do you have work?"
She moved so she was sitting back on her legs and facing him, shaking her head and smiling at his shocked reaction. "It's the first birthday we're spending together, Tony, I thought, maybe, you'd like me to stay the whole day. If you don't, I can always go into work—" she explained, glancing away when she realized that, maybe, Tony didn't actually want her around the whole time, and was happier when he saw her less.
"No!" he cried, practically tackling her, wrangling her into his arms, smiling as the room was filled with a shriek of laughter.
He kissed her languidly for a few minutes, Birdie humming softly, running her hands through his hair. He pulled away to press a kiss to her nose before leaning down to just drop his face in the crook of her neck, being careful not to crush her.
"Since you don't have any plans," she said, running her hands through his hair, because no matter what he tried to say, she knew that he always loved it, "Are you still willing to, you know, get up and go outside?"
He groaned, pressing a kiss to her neck. "Do I have to? We could just invite Rhodey here?"
She tutted softly. "Tony, c'mon, he's your best friend, don't be like that."
He lifted his head to smirk down at her, waggling his eyebrows. "But I don't have to see him now...and it is my birthday..."
She laughed softly, but tugged him down to kiss him, Tony more than happy to comply, pressing her down on the mattress just a bit more than she already was, moving to press kisses along her neck and hopefully farther down, Birdie just breathing softly underneath him.
"Happy Birth—Oh my God!"
Tony practically flung himself off the bed, Birdie immediately sitting up, clutching at the blanket despite still wearing all her clothes, staring at Remy and BUDDY with wide eyes, her son staring at them in horror.
"Happy Birthday, Tony, it's not like I live here," Remy grumbled, crossing his arms, giving the man a disapproving look from where he had fallen onto the floor.
Glancing over to his mother, he tried to raise an eyebrow and she nodded, motioning for him to keep quiet, and he nodded, saying one last 'happy birthday' before leaving the room, BUDDY still inside and helping Tony back onto the bed before patting his head and greeting him before waddling out.
Birdie smiled over at Tony who was still sprawled out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, shaking his head. With a roll of her eyes, she crawled out of the blankets and moved to sit in his lap, the man immediately sitting up and wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Hi," he greeted, pressing a kiss just above the collar of the shirt she had stolen from him, "Do I have to beg for forgiveness from the kid?"
"No," she said, going back to playing with his hair, "Though he'll probably be happier with you if you actually go outside and get dressed, so you should probably take a shower and maybe eat some toast."
He groaned, dropping his head forward. "This is just an elaborate scheme to get me to eat, isn't it?"
"You're not a machine, Tony, you have needs," she reminded, tapping his shoulders.
He lifted his head to give her a sly smile, standing up suddenly, carrying her towards the bathroom. "You're right about that. So we should probably get started."
º º º
The two emerged from their room some time later, showered and dressed and slightly tired, but smiling. They walked down the hall to find Remy sitting in the living room with a piece of paper in his lap and loud music blaring from his earbuds, playing a new video game.
Yanking out an earbud, he said, "We have thin walls."
Birdie simply blushed, ducking her head and making her way to the kitchen to make breakfast, Tony laughing softly and moving to sit down next to Remy, ruffling his hair, the boy grumbling and swatting his hand away.
"You're old, you guys shouldn't even be having sex," he sighed, shaking his head and pausing his game, picking up the paper and handing it to Tony, "Happy Birthday, Tony."
Looking at the paper, Tony's breath hitched at a drawing of him, the Walsh's, and Birdie, all of them smiling and holding hands, with all of Tony's friends and the rest of the Avengers around them, a large 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TONY, WE LOVE YOU' at the top of the page in red and gold.
He rubbed his mouth, his hands shaking slightly as he smiled, looking over at Remy who was pretending to play his video game but was actually looking at him out of the corner of his eye. He pulled him into a side hug, and Remy jumped up, wrapping his arms around Tony's neck, shocking the man.
He hugged him back after a moment, looking over at Birdie who was looking at them with a hand over her mouth, smiling. He smiled back, albeit a bit shakily, but he was happy.
"Breakfast is ready," she called out, carrying plates to the table, revealing eggs benedict and bacon, as she had come to find that Tony was rather partial to them whenever she actually had time to make breakfast.
Remy vaulted himself away from Tony, scurrying to the dining table, Tony close behind, pressing a kiss to Birdie's temple before taking his seat. A seat that was simply his, no fuss or discussion. Because he was a part of their family, no fuss or discussion about it.
"We have a surprise for you later," Remy said around a mouthful of egg, because there were some secrets he just wasn't good at keeping.
"Oh?" Tony hummed, looking over Birdie who was giving her son a look, "What is it?"
"You'll just have to see," she replied, leaving Tony to wonder if he should be worried.
º º º
Later in the afternoon saw Tony driving them to the penthouse that had become somewhat synonymous to his and Birdie's relationship, ignoring the woman's insistence that she could drive, BUDDY and Remy in the backseat, all of them dressed like they were going to a rather fancy occasion, which was his first red flag.
"What are you planning?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her as he smoothly switched lanes, the three of them nearing the penthouse.
"You'll see," she hummed, and that was the end of that.
After somehow miraculously finding a place to park and making their way up to the top level, Birdie squeezed his arm, as if to remind him that if he got overwhelmed, he would be okay. He reached out and placed his hand over hers, letting her know that he understood.
The elevator doors opened and he barely had time to step out before a crowd of people jumped to their feet, all greeting him a happy birthday.
He startled back, shocked, as he stared at the smiling faces of practically everyone in his life. There was Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy along with Rhodey's wife and kid, Peter and his aunt, Nicky and his roommate, nearly all of Birdie's family, and some more that he just couldn't see.
Rhodey stepped forward, a tablet in his hands, arms outstretched for a hug, and Tony laughed, hugging him easily, the other man patting his back. "Happy Birthday, Tones."
"Thanks, Sour Patch," he replied, pulling away to glance at the tablet, "What's that?"
"A few other people couldn't make it, so they sent you some videos," he explained, handing it over.
A hologram appeared in front of him, showing Clint Barton and the Maximoff twins smiling and waving.
"Happy Birthday, Stark," Clint greeted easily, Wanda chirping another, "Happy Birthday, Tony!" and Pietro adding a, "Take it slow, old man, you might break something."
Tony raised a hand to his mouth, scoffing slightly, trying not to wave back at the video. The hologram switched to Natasha Romanoff who gave him a small smile. "Happy Birthday, Stark. Hope you're doing alright."
He huffed lightly and the video switched to Sam Wilson who was obnoxiously eating a box of Girl Scout Cookies which made Tony laugh, the sound filling the room and making everyone around him smile. "Hey, Tony. Listen, thanks for the job, and the cookies, and the new boyfriend. Means a lot. Gotta say, forty-seven, good on you, man. I'm proud of you for sticking around this long, hope I can greet you next year in person. Have a good one, Tony, you deserve it."
Then a video of King T'Challa appeared and he had to admit, that was unexpected. The man looked as much of royalty as he always did, though a sly smile was playing on his lips. "Happy Birthday, Mr. Stark. While I wish I could have greeted you in person, as my little sister has been wanting to meet you for some time to discuss her latest inventions, I'm sending this video on behalf of myself and all of Wakanda. Have a happy birthday and many more to come." In the background of the video was a scoff and a, "This isn't a diplomatic meeting, tell him you think he's fit for an old man—"
The video cut off and was replaced with Steve Rogers who was smiling at the camera with the look he always gave Tony whenever he was about to say something heartfelt. "Hey, Tony."
He did not, in fact, start crying.
"I hope you're having a good birthday," the man continued, "You really deserve it. I'm really happy you were able to find people who cared about you as much as you care about everyone else. You deserve that. If I was with you, I'd probably hug you, though I'm not sure you'd even want me to. But I'm not, so I just want you to know that I hope you have a great birthday."
With that, the video ended, leaving Tony to just stare off, his eyes glassy and unfocused.
"Tones," Rhodey said softly, "Are you okay?"
Tony nodded, looking over at all the people who had shown up, all the people who cared enough to come, all the people who chose to stay even after everything. He looked over at Birdie who gave him an encouraging smile, then at Remy who patted his back, smiling.
He looked back over at Rhodey and nodded. "I'm great."
Happy Birthday, indeed.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Let me just say that while I had been using the incorrect timeline while writing literally all of my fics that were posted after Hoco came out, I'm just pretending like I didn't and placing them in the correct year, despite my inconsistencies in the actual statements within the story, so this takes place in 2017, a year before IW, though you can say that the End Credit Scene took place a year after this, because it could have.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!
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